Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the other members of the Sub-Committee and the officers who were present.

There were none.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Councillor Sally Davis said she had been present at a previous meeting of Full Council where the driver, who is the subject of today’s hearing had made a statement.

Councillor Steve Hedges said that he was also present at the Council meeting and had met the driver on one other occasion for a general discussion regarding taxis.

Councillor Manda Rigby said that she too was present at the Council meeting and had also had one subsequent meeting with the driver and that there had been no predetermination and would be dealt with on its merits.

There was none.

The Sub-Committee approved the minutes of 24^th September 2020 as a correct record.

The Chair will, if required, explain the procedure.

The Chair explained the procedure for the meeting to all parties who were present.

The parties confirmed that they understood the procedure to be followed for the

hearing.

The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

“the Committee having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, RESOLVES that the public shall be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business and the reporting of the meeting be prevented under Section 100A(5A), because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended.   

The members of the Sub-Committee agreed that they were satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. They  RESOLVED that the public should be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business and the reporting of the meeting be prevented under Section 100A(5A), because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended.

The Lead Licensing Officer presented the report to the Sub-Committee. He explained that the report invited the Members to consider whether the driver before them remains fit and proper to hold a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers licence issued by the authority.

He stated that the Sub-Committee is asked to consider the matter, determine the issue and take any action it may consider suitable after hearing any representation from the driver or any representative acting on his behalf.

He showed the Sub-Committee a video of the driver acting in an obstructive manner when other vehicles were attempting to pass his stationary vehicle.

The driver’s representative addressed the Sub-Committee. He said that the driver has dyslexia and that when he was informed that his vehicle had failed both the Compliance Test and MOT test on the 22nd October 2019 he was confused as he had only taken the vehicle to Bathwick Tyres for a pre-MOT check on 18^th October 2019.

The driver’s representative said that on 22^nd October 2019 when the driver was on his way to the Test Centre he had hit a loose manhole cover and reported the matter via Fix My Street. He added that the driver did call Russell’s of Bath a Private Hire Operator to request that someone cover his school run that afternoon.

He informed the Sub-Committee that new tyres had been fitted to the driver’s vehicle on 23^rd October 2019, but that he had not been informed by the Test Centre to not drive the vehicle due to the MOT failure and was not aware that the guidance had changed that meant that failure of an MOT test cancels the previous one held, even if the previous test had remaining days on it.

He stated that the vehicle was re-tested on the 29th October 2019 and subsequently passed the Compliance Test and MOT test.

Councillor Steve Hedges asked even if he believed that he could drive the vehicle on the merit of the old MOT certificate, why would he drive it with a serious defect and carry members of the public.

The driver replied that he had the new tyres fitted on the morning of 23^rd October and that at that time he had not driven the vehicle with any passengers inside it. He added that he genuinely believed that he was still able to drive the vehicle as the previous MOT was in place until 14th November and that he didn’t knowingly drive with the serious defect.

Councillor Davis commented that she was concerned that he was not aware of the MOT rule change.

The Chair asked if any evidence could be provided that he had hit the manhole cover on 22^nd October as stated and that it had been reported via Fix My Street.

The driver replied that he could not provide evidence to the Sub-Committee but stated that it was situated outside the new tattoo shop on the Upper Bristol Road, Bath and that he had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.